5J PJE Commenced operations 1989 Founded 1989 Headquarters Wichita, Georgia | PJE Pee Jay Fleet size See Fleet below Ceased operations March 1995 | |
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Operating bases Destinations Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas, New York]] | ||
Private Jet Expeditions (IATA: PJE, ICAO: 5J, Call sign: Pee Jay) was a charter airline that was part of the Oasis Group from Spain.
Contents
History
Private Jet Expeditions was founded in 1989 by Wichita, Kansas entrepreneur Jack P. DeBoer and began operations with a former TWA Boeing 727 aircraft to tourist destinations around the world operating under FAR Pt 121. After Deboer sold the company its headquarters was moved to Atlanta, GA and was later owned by Apple Vacations and then by the Spanish consortium OASIS. When Oasis took over, the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was put into service and service was expanded, including scheduled flights. In 1993 it had a scheduled route from Chicago to Atlanta and on to Miami. According to the September 15, 1994 edition of the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the air carrier was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 and MD-80 jetliners as National Airlines with the same "5J" airline code. According to the OAG, routes at this time included Miami-Atlanta-Dallas/Fort Worth-Las Vegas, New York LaGuardia-Atlanta-Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami-Atlanta-New York LaGuardia, and Chicago Midway-Atlanta-St. Thomas-St.Croix. At one point, an MD-80 was leased by French carrier Air Liberte and used to briefly operate a scheduled Chicago Midway-San Francisco route while retaining the full livery of the French carrier. Because of poor load factors these routes were abandoned in 1994 and shortly thereafter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was sought. The charter operations did not go well and by March 1995 operations were permanently suspended.